Understanding change in public organizations: A systematic and integrative review

Public organizations are continuously required to change in part due to shifting political and societal preferences. While there is extant research demonstrating how change can be managed in public organizations, there is a lack of understanding concerning the holistic and systemic nature of public-sector change. This article aims to integrate empirical research on public-sector change in order to provide a conceptual framework centered on unravelling its holistic and systemic nature. A systematic literature review on change in public organizations is conducted which draws on quantitative articles published in journals indexed in SSCI's Public Administration category. A total of 124 articles were identified by this review. The second part of this work builds on the insights that were generated through an in-depth analysis of 40 papers of the final paper set. For this purpose, 100 factors were extracted that have significant relationships with either the context of change or its impact. Lastly the retained factors were projected on the criteria of the Six Batteries of Change model. This model offers a holistic framework that is proved to be a key driver to boost change, based on empirical research in 111 organizations with various backgrounds. The projection provides valuable insights regarding the rational and emotional side of change in public organizations, their context and impact. This leads to recommendations for future research that is needed to counter the current change paradigms.